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spring 2010 | page 1
From the
Director’s
Desk
After a period of
budget freezes, the
CFC is now fully
staffed and able to
better serve faculty
at WCU. With the
loss of a position last year, we reorganized
and combined our associate director with a
vacant instructional developer position. Dr.
Laura Cruz, associate professor of history
at WCU, was hired after a national search.
Laura brings to the position an outstanding
reputation as a teacher and former winner
of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching
Award. Also, as editor of Mountainrise and a
SoTL scholar, she brings much to the Boyer
and QEP campus conversations. In addition
to working with faculty on course design
and teaching improvement, Laura acts in
the absence of the director.
On the IT side, we welcome our new
Learning Management System Team
Leader, Susan Knight. Susan comes to
us from Horry Georgetown Technical
College in South Carolina where she taught
instructional technology and was president
of the Faculty Senate. She also brings a
strong business leadership background
to help us with vendor relations and
management as we migrate to Blackboard 9
for our new Learning Management System.
continued page 4
Connections N ews f r om t h e C o u lt e r F a c u lt y C e n t e r | T e a c h i n g , L e a r n i n g , a n d R e s e a r c h
Spring 2010
As a part of its strategic direction, the Coulter Faculty Center has incorporated an explicit
directive to do its part to support the successful implementation and fulfillment of WCU’s
Quality Enhancement Plan. So what does this mean for faculty? It means that the CFC
stands ready to support the needs of faculty in the design and development of student
activities that embody the tenets of the QEP. Starting with the five QEP student learning
outcomes, CFC instructional developers are available to collaborate with teaching faculty
and graduate teaching assistants to match the learning outcomes with effective instructional
strategies. In fact, some activities that faculty are already engaged in with their students
align nicely to QEP learning outcomes.
One faculty member who recently completed development work of this type with Faculty
Center instructional developers is Bill Papin from the department of Health, Physical
Education & Recreation. “Oftentimes, as faculty, we might set limits on ourselves
unnecessarily by underestimating what is actually possible,” reflects Papin. The first step
in aligning learning opportunities and events with the QEP is forethought in what you wish
to achieve instructionally. The next step is to locate people on campus that can help you
meet that need. Papin considers working with the Faculty Center staff as an opportunity and
notices that the staff often become every bit as excited to develop a new teaching technique
or craft an innovative learning activity as the faculty member.
At first Papin found the QEP daunting. His initial impression was “Implement the QEP?
I don’t know how to do it!” He remembers feeling that implementing the QEP on an
individual basis was a sort of lone undertaking, but soon realized that there are people
here on campus to assist you through the uncertainty. “We as instructors sometimes forget
that we are connected,” he said. Papin used the metaphor of the human body to describe
the working relationship academic units have with the CFC – with each academic unit
representing the extremities connected to the body. Papin also realized that he doesn’t have
to invent all the tools. “Resources available at the CFC have made my life easier, and I didn’t
have to reinvent the wheel,” he said. Papin’s suggestion to fellow faculty: “Let the CFC make
your life easier, too.”
Instructional Development
Support for the QEP
By Robert Crow, Instructional Developer
Bill Papin’s students measure heart rates, mood, calories burned, and impact on stress on a hike to Schoolhouse
Falls in Panthertown. These activities are a result of Bill’s work with the CFC to align his course to the QEP.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
What’s New with WebCat.............2
Digital Media on the Move............3
Wimba MEETING.........................4
A Celebration of Faculty................5
Summer Institute for
Teaching and Learning..................6
SoTL Scholar to Work
with Faculty................................6
Supporting Communities
of Scholarship..............................7
page 2 | Connections What’s New with WebCat
by Donna Koger
Blogs and Journals are two new discussion formats now available within WebCat. Blogs
have become quite popular among those who have joined the social networking revolution
and feel the need to publish their every thought for the whole world to read. Meryl Streep
just won a Golden Globe for her role in Julia & Julie, a film about a young blogger’s
determination to cook her way through Julia Child’s cookbook. Faculty can now capitalize
on this increasing awareness of collaborative discussion by incorporating blogs into
course development.
Assignment strategies may include: reflection on exploratory research, peer-to-peer
discussions, guided discovery, student collaboration for projects, and connecting students
to guest lecturers or industry experts.
Blogs are designed for collaborative discussion while journals are designed for private
writing between students and faculty. Both can be assessed with WebCat just like the
more traditional form of discussion boards. Visit WebCat here to watch an instructional
video on using these tools. Both of these tools will migrate easily into Blackboard 9.
By Susan Knight, Learning Management System Team Manager
In the last newsletter, you read about the charge given to the Task Force on Learning
Management Systems. On December 16, 2009, the Task Force met with Provost,
Kyle Carter and CIO, Craig
Fowler, and presented their
recommendation of upgrading
WebCat to Blackboard 9.1,
which was accepted. Planning
is already underway for
the migration and we are
awaiting the release of version
9.1, as version 9.0 is the current release. We are committed to partnering with all the
stakeholders that will be affected by the migration and are establishing an LMS Faculty
Advisory Committee. Early faculty involvement is critical for the success of the project
and this committee will work closely with the Coulter Faculty Center throughout the entire
migration process. We have briefed the deans and the Faculty Senate on our roll-out plans
and have invited the Faculty Senate to have a representative on the advisory group.
We expect the release of Blackboard to occur in early March. If Blackboard delivers on
time, our tentative schedule is as follows:
• March 1: Release of Blackboard 9.1
• April 1: Testing, Preparation of Training Documentation
• Summer Semester: Pilot group will use Blackboard 9.1 for “live” classes
• Summer: Training of Lead Faculty
• Fall Semester: Training for remaining faculty
• Spring Semester: All courses offered through Blackboard
We are excited about the new tools and capabilities of Blackboard and look forward to
staying in touch with you as we make progress and bring new users on board.
Task Force Chooses Blackboard
SafeAssign
By Jason Ottie, LMS Team
The Coulter Faculty Center is pleased to
announce the release of SafeAssign, a new
plagiarism prevention software tool within
WebCat, designed to assist in the teaching
of plagiarism and properly referencing
content in student research. The goal
of using such a tool is to build integrity
among students by designing your course
so plagiarism isn’t an issue. If students are
taught the proper methods of research and
assignments are designed in a way to foster
motivation and interest, students will be
less likely to plagiarize content.
SafeAssign does not replace faculty
discretion and grading of assignments nor
does it prove a student has plagiarized.
SafeAssign allows for students to submit
drafts of their work, which will provide
the student and instructor with a report of
possible copied content. This report can
assist the student in learning what content
should be referenced. The SafeAssign
report will display possible sources for
material, but it does not guarantee where
the student borrowed content from nor does
it take into account “common knowledge”
that may be referenced (i.e. “the sky is
blue…”). To use SafeAssign in your course,
an approved disclaimer statement must be
included in your syllabus (this can be found
at: https://online2.wcu.edu/?page_id=624.
SafeAssign is currently being tested with
a pilot group and is scheduled to be
available to all faculty for the Summer 2010
semester. Anyone who would like to learn
more about SafeAssign is encouraged to
sign up for one of the SafeAssign Office
Hours listed on the Training Register
http://trainingreg/trainingregister7. Please
contact Jason Ottie (ext 2927) if you have
any specific questions regarding SafeAssign.
A New Plagiarism
Detection Tool
spring 2010 | page 3
Digital Media on the Move
by Neil Torda
Susan Knight has joined the CFC as
the Learning Management System
Team Manager.
Welcome new staff
Dr. Laura Cruz has jointed the CFC as
Associate Director/ Instructional Developer.
Wiki and Blog
services
The number of faculty, staff and students
who are using our collaboration services
continues to grow; we currently have more
than 300 wikis and nearly 360 active
bloggers. Blogging and Wiki services are
now self service. If you are interested in
creating a blog for yourself or your students,
just go to https://media.wcu.edu/users and
click the “Create Your Weblog” button to
get started. Faculty and students who want
to create wiki’s can visit https://media.wcu.
edu/groups/ and log in to access the Create
a new Wiki button.
WCU on iTunes U
Our podcasting server, WCU on iTunes
U continues to expand and grow in
downloads. The first month of the fall
semester there were 50,000 downloads.
The first month of the Spring semester
topped 75,000 downloads of podcasts.
If you aren’t familiar with iTunes U, it is a
collection of free educational media from
universities around the world. Take some
time and browse the amazing amount of
content professors from all over have made
available to anyone, for free. You can get to
our iTunes U site by going to http://itunes.
wcu.edu and following the login prompts.
Because the WCU on iTunes U presence is
tied to Banner for authentication, you can
set the permissions for your course any
number of ways. It can be locked down so
that only members of your course section
have access, or open to just WCU students,
or open to the entire world.
If you would like to find out more about
WCU on iTunes U you can attend one of
our workshops or contact Neil Torda for
more information.
Rolling out Podcast Producer
With our new Podcast Producer service, you can begin to automatically upload content to
your own user blog on the media server. You can also use the system for more advanced
media publication, but you will need to work with the Coulter Faculty Center to prepare a
customized workflow that meets your specific needs. You can have separate workflows for
each class you teach.
With the online web interface to Podcast Producer you can upload .mp4 video or .mp3
audio files, choose your workflow, and the server takes care of everything else. You can
also take any PDF or Word Document and upload using the Montage workflow to create a
slideshow movie of your document.
If you are a Macintosh user, it gets even better. Using the Podcast Capture utility that is built
into Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6, you can do a live capture straight from your Macintosh. With
10.5 machines you can record audio, video from your built in camera or your screen with
audio and the Podcast Producer server takes care of encoding and posting the content as
soon as you are done. Users of 10.6 will be able to create a multi-input video, which will
allow for Picture in Picture lectures with your face and slides automatically edited for you.
By using Podcast Producer in your classroom, you will be able to record audio or video of
your lectures that is automatically posted to your wiki, blog or iTunes U course shell. For
more information about this system visit the Coulter Faculty Center or sign up for one of
our workshops.
page 4 | Connections From the Director’s Desk continued
Dr. Barbara Jo White, assistant professor in the College of Business has stepped into
Dr. Cruz’s previous role as Senior Fellow for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Dr. White was last year’s winner of the university SoTL Award and is working with
faculty on SoTL projects and publication.
Sue Grider assumes an additional role as our data manager. For our data collection,
we use Cherwell, a tracking/ticketing system that allows us to keep track of incidents
and services to faculty. We use this data in several ways. One is to generate the annual
letters for faculty for their AFE files that detail their participation in the CFC as
evidence of their professional development in teaching. Another purpose of the data
is to provide us with key metrics to focus on areas of need or attention. We review this
data at weekly staff meetings and keep our Advisory Board apprised of our work.
The entire staff is excited about May’s Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning
May 11.13. Details are found in this issue. Many faculty see this event as a time of
professional reflection and growth and a welcome chance to dialogue with colleagues
from across campus. This year’s theme, “Teaching the Tough Stuff” promises to
engage faculty in meaningful reflection and collaboration on important classroom
conversation and topics.
Visit us 8:00-5:00 year round expect for university holidays.
Anna T. McFadden
Director and professor
You’ve been collaborating with colleagues
for months via email, but to bring the project
to closure, you really need some quality
“face time” with all concerned. You don’t
have any money in your travel budget, so
why not use the Coulter Faculty Center���s
“virtual ticket”? With Wimba MEETING
you have a room in cyberspace where you
can see, hear, and talk with anyone in the
world that has a computer with an internet
connection, a webcam, and a microphone.
Just like the WebCat Wimba Classroom
tool, Wimba MEETING has the capability to
share Adobe PDF documents, PowerPoint
presentations, web pages, images, and even
applications from your desktop. Everyone
with WCU credentials will have their own
room and inviting someone to a meeting is
as simple as sending an email. Perhaps best
of all, Wimba MEETING functions outside
the WebCat LMS, so all members of WCU’s
administration and staff can take advantage
of this “virtual travel” during these austere
budget times.
Wimba MEETING is another one of the
many ways that WCU keeps reshaping
the boundary between technology,
academics, and administration to maximize
efficiency and the learning experience.
If you want to learn more about Wimba
MEETING you can sign up for one of the
Coulter Faculty Center’s workshops, the
office hours of one of our knowledgeable
staff, or just give us a call. We’re anxious to
help you get the most of this intuitive tool to
plan events locally or collaborate globally.
Coulter Faculty Center Rolls Out
Wimba METING for All Faculty and Staff
By John Hawes, Learning Management System Team
Please join the Coulter Faculty Center
staff as we honor the retirement of
Dr. John LeBaron,
Jay M. Robinson Distinguished Professor of
Educational Technologies
At a drop-in reception
Tuesday, April 27, 3:00- 5:00
UC Multipurpose Room
spring 2010 | page 5
A Celebration
of Faculty
Join the Coulter Faculty Center for A drop-in
with Live Music and Great food as we honor
and say thank you to Faculty for their
contributions to WCU this year
TUESDAY, April 20
Drop by between 5:00 and 7:00
Illusions
the University Center
Please rsvp at this link
h"p://www.wcu.edu/12817.asp
page 6 | Connections SoTL Scholar to Work with Faculty
Craig Nelson, SoTL Scholar, Professor
Emeritus, Indiana University
The CFC is pleased to bring to Campus
SoTL Scholar Craig Nelson, March 19. Dr.
Nelson will work with STEM faculty, SoTL
interest groups and present and future SoTL
practitioners. Dr. Nelson will be giving a
workshop entitled “Major SOTL Research:
Implications for Designing Further Research
and Teaching”. The event is open to all WCU
faculty staff and will be held in Hunter 240 on
Friday March 19th from 8:30-10:00. Please
either RSVP to Laura Cruz (lcruz@email.wcu.
edu) or register at http://www.wcu.edu/7482.
asp. Dr. Nelson is a national leader in the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He
served as a Carnegie Scholar, 2000-2001
and was named Outstanding Research And
Doctoral University Professor Of The Year by
the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching / Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education. He received the
President’s Medal for Excellence at Indiana
University and was the First President of
International Society for the Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning. Click for a link to Dr.
Nelson’s vita: http://mypage.iu.edu/~nelson1/
Contact Laura Cruz for more information.
Focus team topics will include such issues as:
• Teaching ethics
• Dealing with controversial subject matter
• Promoting character and personal development
• Creating supportive learning environments
• Using technology to mediate these conversations,
and more.
The focus team facilitators for 2010 include Daryl Hale, Fred Buskey, Laura Wright,
Leah Hampton, Tracie Rice, Barbara Jo White, and Lisa Bloom.
Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning
by Laura Cruz, Associate Director
The Coulter Faculty Center is pleased
to host our annual Summer Institute on
Teaching and Learning, May 11-13, 2010.
This year our theme is ‘teaching the
tough stuff’. We will be exploring different
ways to teach material that is sensitive,
controversial, ambiguous, personal, touchy,
moral, and/or provocative. As our vision as
a University asks us to extend teaching and
learning to include experiences outside of
the classroom and of traditional disciplinary
boundaries, we are all thinking deeply
about how to provide instruction that
encourages our students to be reflective
moral agents, to uphold ethical standards,
to deal with sensitive situations, to show
strong character, and to engage with the
complicated issues that we face in the
world today. This three day intensive
workshop will help faculty to think about
extending the horizons of their students
and their learning experiences. Registration
began the week of February 8th.
Annual Summer Institute on Teaching and Learning
“Teaching the Tough Stuff”
May 11-13 2010
spring 2010 | page 7
The Coulter Faculty Center is supporting
and promoting Communities of Scholarship
on WCU’s campus. “One of our themes
for the year centers around the idea of
productive SoTL,” says Barbara Jo White,
the CFC SoTL Faculty Fellow, “and it’s the
notion that we can simultaneously improve
our teaching, our research productivity, and
our students’ learning with teaching and
learning scholarship.” To that end, the CFC is
focusing on naturally-occurring communities,
that can form in the same college or center
around the same issue. An example of an
issue-based community of scholarship is the
QEP group already working on pilot projects.
Pulling together their work in a journal
publication helps them with their committee
report work as well as their research
productivity. White is currently working with
several faculty in the College of Business
to form a Community of Scholarship.
“Besides similar research interests, we’re
finding it’s often easier to meet,” says
White, “especially informally, when we can
pop into another faculty-member’s office
for advice or a quick question.” College of
Business dean Ron Johnson supports the
community of scholarship that is forming.
He feels that for any institution of education
and higher learning, it’s critical that all
constituencies understand and are aligned
with the mission--it’s necessary, but not
sufficient, says Johnson, “The effectiveness
of the organization is measured by the
results that come from cross-disciplinary
and cross-functional dialog. This is what a
community of scholarship is all about--these
communities add to the resilience of the
university and strengthen the impact of the
university’s efforts.”
Other communities of scholarship have
organically grown from awards committees
or in other colleges, such as the College of
Arts and Sciences, to support each other’s
research objectives and productivity. If
you are involved in or would like to start a
community of scholarship, please contact
Barbara Jo White, the Coulter Faculty
Center’s SoTL Faculty Fellow at 227.7193 or
whiteb@email.wcu.edu.
Supporting Communities of Scholarship
Thanks to a generous gift from Dr. John LeBaron and the J.M. Robinson Endowment
Fund, the Coulter Faculty Center is pleased to offer a quiet, more private space for faculty
to record audio and video podcasts. Located just inside Hunter 172, the Coulter Faculty
Center’s Consultation Room is a small meeting/recording space equipped with a Mac Mini
and a 23’ LCD display. Apple’s iWork ‘09 and Microsoft Office 2008 are available along
with Telestream’s Screenflow software. Screenflow has been gaining popularity recently
with WCU faculty, as it allows the user to create great looking screencasts quickly and
easily. Not only can you record the desktop and mouse movements as they happen, an
external camera and microphone can be attached allowing the user to record high-quality
video and audio of themselves. Many faculty have been using Screenflow in the more
private setting to record narrated Powerpoint lectures. Screenflow provides powerful editing
tools to give your podcast a very professional look. Microphones and other accessories are
available for use with reservation of the Consultation Room.
Go to http://sandbox.wcu.edu/?page_id=2385 to reserve a time.
CFC Consultation Room Gets an Upgrade
By Jason Melvin, Faculty Sandbox Manager
Coulter Faculty Center
182 Hunter
Cullowhee, NC 28723
828-227-7196 | facctr.wcu.edu
NON-PROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE
PAID
CULLOWHEE NC
PERMIT NO 1
The Coulter Faculty Center Staff
Western Carolina University is a University of North Carolina campus and an Equal Opportunity Institution. This public document was created for electronic distribution Creative Servicess: March 2010 | 10-133

spring 2010 | page 1
From the
Director’s
Desk
After a period of
budget freezes, the
CFC is now fully
staffed and able to
better serve faculty
at WCU. With the
loss of a position last year, we reorganized
and combined our associate director with a
vacant instructional developer position. Dr.
Laura Cruz, associate professor of history
at WCU, was hired after a national search.
Laura brings to the position an outstanding
reputation as a teacher and former winner
of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching
Award. Also, as editor of Mountainrise and a
SoTL scholar, she brings much to the Boyer
and QEP campus conversations. In addition
to working with faculty on course design
and teaching improvement, Laura acts in
the absence of the director.
On the IT side, we welcome our new
Learning Management System Team
Leader, Susan Knight. Susan comes to
us from Horry Georgetown Technical
College in South Carolina where she taught
instructional technology and was president
of the Faculty Senate. She also brings a
strong business leadership background
to help us with vendor relations and
management as we migrate to Blackboard 9
for our new Learning Management System.
continued page 4
Connections N ews f r om t h e C o u lt e r F a c u lt y C e n t e r | T e a c h i n g , L e a r n i n g , a n d R e s e a r c h
Spring 2010
As a part of its strategic direction, the Coulter Faculty Center has incorporated an explicit
directive to do its part to support the successful implementation and fulfillment of WCU’s
Quality Enhancement Plan. So what does this mean for faculty? It means that the CFC
stands ready to support the needs of faculty in the design and development of student
activities that embody the tenets of the QEP. Starting with the five QEP student learning
outcomes, CFC instructional developers are available to collaborate with teaching faculty
and graduate teaching assistants to match the learning outcomes with effective instructional
strategies. In fact, some activities that faculty are already engaged in with their students
align nicely to QEP learning outcomes.
One faculty member who recently completed development work of this type with Faculty
Center instructional developers is Bill Papin from the department of Health, Physical
Education & Recreation. “Oftentimes, as faculty, we might set limits on ourselves
unnecessarily by underestimating what is actually possible,” reflects Papin. The first step
in aligning learning opportunities and events with the QEP is forethought in what you wish
to achieve instructionally. The next step is to locate people on campus that can help you
meet that need. Papin considers working with the Faculty Center staff as an opportunity and
notices that the staff often become every bit as excited to develop a new teaching technique
or craft an innovative learning activity as the faculty member.
At first Papin found the QEP daunting. His initial impression was “Implement the QEP?
I don’t know how to do it!” He remembers feeling that implementing the QEP on an
individual basis was a sort of lone undertaking, but soon realized that there are people
here on campus to assist you through the uncertainty. “We as instructors sometimes forget
that we are connected,” he said. Papin used the metaphor of the human body to describe
the working relationship academic units have with the CFC – with each academic unit
representing the extremities connected to the body. Papin also realized that he doesn’t have
to invent all the tools. “Resources available at the CFC have made my life easier, and I didn’t
have to reinvent the wheel,” he said. Papin’s suggestion to fellow faculty: “Let the CFC make
your life easier, too.”
Instructional Development
Support for the QEP
By Robert Crow, Instructional Developer
Bill Papin’s students measure heart rates, mood, calories burned, and impact on stress on a hike to Schoolhouse
Falls in Panthertown. These activities are a result of Bill’s work with the CFC to align his course to the QEP.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
What’s New with WebCat.............2
Digital Media on the Move............3
Wimba MEETING.........................4
A Celebration of Faculty................5
Summer Institute for
Teaching and Learning..................6
SoTL Scholar to Work
with Faculty................................6
Supporting Communities
of Scholarship..............................7
page 2 | Connections What’s New with WebCat
by Donna Koger
Blogs and Journals are two new discussion formats now available within WebCat. Blogs
have become quite popular among those who have joined the social networking revolution
and feel the need to publish their every thought for the whole world to read. Meryl Streep
just won a Golden Globe for her role in Julia & Julie, a film about a young blogger’s
determination to cook her way through Julia Child’s cookbook. Faculty can now capitalize
on this increasing awareness of collaborative discussion by incorporating blogs into
course development.
Assignment strategies may include: reflection on exploratory research, peer-to-peer
discussions, guided discovery, student collaboration for projects, and connecting students
to guest lecturers or industry experts.
Blogs are designed for collaborative discussion while journals are designed for private
writing between students and faculty. Both can be assessed with WebCat just like the
more traditional form of discussion boards. Visit WebCat here to watch an instructional
video on using these tools. Both of these tools will migrate easily into Blackboard 9.
By Susan Knight, Learning Management System Team Manager
In the last newsletter, you read about the charge given to the Task Force on Learning
Management Systems. On December 16, 2009, the Task Force met with Provost,
Kyle Carter and CIO, Craig
Fowler, and presented their
recommendation of upgrading
WebCat to Blackboard 9.1,
which was accepted. Planning
is already underway for
the migration and we are
awaiting the release of version
9.1, as version 9.0 is the current release. We are committed to partnering with all the
stakeholders that will be affected by the migration and are establishing an LMS Faculty
Advisory Committee. Early faculty involvement is critical for the success of the project
and this committee will work closely with the Coulter Faculty Center throughout the entire
migration process. We have briefed the deans and the Faculty Senate on our roll-out plans
and have invited the Faculty Senate to have a representative on the advisory group.
We expect the release of Blackboard to occur in early March. If Blackboard delivers on
time, our tentative schedule is as follows:
• March 1: Release of Blackboard 9.1
• April 1: Testing, Preparation of Training Documentation
• Summer Semester: Pilot group will use Blackboard 9.1 for “live” classes
• Summer: Training of Lead Faculty
• Fall Semester: Training for remaining faculty
• Spring Semester: All courses offered through Blackboard
We are excited about the new tools and capabilities of Blackboard and look forward to
staying in touch with you as we make progress and bring new users on board.
Task Force Chooses Blackboard
SafeAssign
By Jason Ottie, LMS Team
The Coulter Faculty Center is pleased to
announce the release of SafeAssign, a new
plagiarism prevention software tool within
WebCat, designed to assist in the teaching
of plagiarism and properly referencing
content in student research. The goal
of using such a tool is to build integrity
among students by designing your course
so plagiarism isn’t an issue. If students are
taught the proper methods of research and
assignments are designed in a way to foster
motivation and interest, students will be
less likely to plagiarize content.
SafeAssign does not replace faculty
discretion and grading of assignments nor
does it prove a student has plagiarized.
SafeAssign allows for students to submit
drafts of their work, which will provide
the student and instructor with a report of
possible copied content. This report can
assist the student in learning what content
should be referenced. The SafeAssign
report will display possible sources for
material, but it does not guarantee where
the student borrowed content from nor does
it take into account “common knowledge”
that may be referenced (i.e. “the sky is
blue…”). To use SafeAssign in your course,
an approved disclaimer statement must be
included in your syllabus (this can be found
at: https://online2.wcu.edu/?page_id=624.
SafeAssign is currently being tested with
a pilot group and is scheduled to be
available to all faculty for the Summer 2010
semester. Anyone who would like to learn
more about SafeAssign is encouraged to
sign up for one of the SafeAssign Office
Hours listed on the Training Register
http://trainingreg/trainingregister7. Please
contact Jason Ottie (ext 2927) if you have
any specific questions regarding SafeAssign.
A New Plagiarism
Detection Tool
spring 2010 | page 3
Digital Media on the Move
by Neil Torda
Susan Knight has joined the CFC as
the Learning Management System
Team Manager.
Welcome new staff
Dr. Laura Cruz has jointed the CFC as
Associate Director/ Instructional Developer.
Wiki and Blog
services
The number of faculty, staff and students
who are using our collaboration services
continues to grow; we currently have more
than 300 wikis and nearly 360 active
bloggers. Blogging and Wiki services are
now self service. If you are interested in
creating a blog for yourself or your students,
just go to https://media.wcu.edu/users and
click the “Create Your Weblog” button to
get started. Faculty and students who want
to create wiki’s can visit https://media.wcu.
edu/groups/ and log in to access the Create
a new Wiki button.
WCU on iTunes U
Our podcasting server, WCU on iTunes
U continues to expand and grow in
downloads. The first month of the fall
semester there were 50,000 downloads.
The first month of the Spring semester
topped 75,000 downloads of podcasts.
If you aren’t familiar with iTunes U, it is a
collection of free educational media from
universities around the world. Take some
time and browse the amazing amount of
content professors from all over have made
available to anyone, for free. You can get to
our iTunes U site by going to http://itunes.
wcu.edu and following the login prompts.
Because the WCU on iTunes U presence is
tied to Banner for authentication, you can
set the permissions for your course any
number of ways. It can be locked down so
that only members of your course section
have access, or open to just WCU students,
or open to the entire world.
If you would like to find out more about
WCU on iTunes U you can attend one of
our workshops or contact Neil Torda for
more information.
Rolling out Podcast Producer
With our new Podcast Producer service, you can begin to automatically upload content to
your own user blog on the media server. You can also use the system for more advanced
media publication, but you will need to work with the Coulter Faculty Center to prepare a
customized workflow that meets your specific needs. You can have separate workflows for
each class you teach.
With the online web interface to Podcast Producer you can upload .mp4 video or .mp3
audio files, choose your workflow, and the server takes care of everything else. You can
also take any PDF or Word Document and upload using the Montage workflow to create a
slideshow movie of your document.
If you are a Macintosh user, it gets even better. Using the Podcast Capture utility that is built
into Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6, you can do a live capture straight from your Macintosh. With
10.5 machines you can record audio, video from your built in camera or your screen with
audio and the Podcast Producer server takes care of encoding and posting the content as
soon as you are done. Users of 10.6 will be able to create a multi-input video, which will
allow for Picture in Picture lectures with your face and slides automatically edited for you.
By using Podcast Producer in your classroom, you will be able to record audio or video of
your lectures that is automatically posted to your wiki, blog or iTunes U course shell. For
more information about this system visit the Coulter Faculty Center or sign up for one of
our workshops.
page 4 | Connections From the Director’s Desk continued
Dr. Barbara Jo White, assistant professor in the College of Business has stepped into
Dr. Cruz’s previous role as Senior Fellow for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Dr. White was last year’s winner of the university SoTL Award and is working with
faculty on SoTL projects and publication.
Sue Grider assumes an additional role as our data manager. For our data collection,
we use Cherwell, a tracking/ticketing system that allows us to keep track of incidents
and services to faculty. We use this data in several ways. One is to generate the annual
letters for faculty for their AFE files that detail their participation in the CFC as
evidence of their professional development in teaching. Another purpose of the data
is to provide us with key metrics to focus on areas of need or attention. We review this
data at weekly staff meetings and keep our Advisory Board apprised of our work.
The entire staff is excited about May’s Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning
May 11.13. Details are found in this issue. Many faculty see this event as a time of
professional reflection and growth and a welcome chance to dialogue with colleagues
from across campus. This year’s theme, “Teaching the Tough Stuff” promises to
engage faculty in meaningful reflection and collaboration on important classroom
conversation and topics.
Visit us 8:00-5:00 year round expect for university holidays.
Anna T. McFadden
Director and professor
You’ve been collaborating with colleagues
for months via email, but to bring the project
to closure, you really need some quality
“face time” with all concerned. You don’t
have any money in your travel budget, so
why not use the Coulter Faculty Center���s
“virtual ticket”? With Wimba MEETING
you have a room in cyberspace where you
can see, hear, and talk with anyone in the
world that has a computer with an internet
connection, a webcam, and a microphone.
Just like the WebCat Wimba Classroom
tool, Wimba MEETING has the capability to
share Adobe PDF documents, PowerPoint
presentations, web pages, images, and even
applications from your desktop. Everyone
with WCU credentials will have their own
room and inviting someone to a meeting is
as simple as sending an email. Perhaps best
of all, Wimba MEETING functions outside
the WebCat LMS, so all members of WCU’s
administration and staff can take advantage
of this “virtual travel” during these austere
budget times.
Wimba MEETING is another one of the
many ways that WCU keeps reshaping
the boundary between technology,
academics, and administration to maximize
efficiency and the learning experience.
If you want to learn more about Wimba
MEETING you can sign up for one of the
Coulter Faculty Center’s workshops, the
office hours of one of our knowledgeable
staff, or just give us a call. We’re anxious to
help you get the most of this intuitive tool to
plan events locally or collaborate globally.
Coulter Faculty Center Rolls Out
Wimba METING for All Faculty and Staff
By John Hawes, Learning Management System Team
Please join the Coulter Faculty Center
staff as we honor the retirement of
Dr. John LeBaron,
Jay M. Robinson Distinguished Professor of
Educational Technologies
At a drop-in reception
Tuesday, April 27, 3:00- 5:00
UC Multipurpose Room
spring 2010 | page 5
A Celebration
of Faculty
Join the Coulter Faculty Center for A drop-in
with Live Music and Great food as we honor
and say thank you to Faculty for their
contributions to WCU this year
TUESDAY, April 20
Drop by between 5:00 and 7:00
Illusions
the University Center
Please rsvp at this link
h"p://www.wcu.edu/12817.asp
page 6 | Connections SoTL Scholar to Work with Faculty
Craig Nelson, SoTL Scholar, Professor
Emeritus, Indiana University
The CFC is pleased to bring to Campus
SoTL Scholar Craig Nelson, March 19. Dr.
Nelson will work with STEM faculty, SoTL
interest groups and present and future SoTL
practitioners. Dr. Nelson will be giving a
workshop entitled “Major SOTL Research:
Implications for Designing Further Research
and Teaching”. The event is open to all WCU
faculty staff and will be held in Hunter 240 on
Friday March 19th from 8:30-10:00. Please
either RSVP to Laura Cruz (lcruz@email.wcu.
edu) or register at http://www.wcu.edu/7482.
asp. Dr. Nelson is a national leader in the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He
served as a Carnegie Scholar, 2000-2001
and was named Outstanding Research And
Doctoral University Professor Of The Year by
the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching / Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education. He received the
President’s Medal for Excellence at Indiana
University and was the First President of
International Society for the Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning. Click for a link to Dr.
Nelson’s vita: http://mypage.iu.edu/~nelson1/
Contact Laura Cruz for more information.
Focus team topics will include such issues as:
• Teaching ethics
• Dealing with controversial subject matter
• Promoting character and personal development
• Creating supportive learning environments
• Using technology to mediate these conversations,
and more.
The focus team facilitators for 2010 include Daryl Hale, Fred Buskey, Laura Wright,
Leah Hampton, Tracie Rice, Barbara Jo White, and Lisa Bloom.
Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning
by Laura Cruz, Associate Director
The Coulter Faculty Center is pleased
to host our annual Summer Institute on
Teaching and Learning, May 11-13, 2010.
This year our theme is ‘teaching the
tough stuff’. We will be exploring different
ways to teach material that is sensitive,
controversial, ambiguous, personal, touchy,
moral, and/or provocative. As our vision as
a University asks us to extend teaching and
learning to include experiences outside of
the classroom and of traditional disciplinary
boundaries, we are all thinking deeply
about how to provide instruction that
encourages our students to be reflective
moral agents, to uphold ethical standards,
to deal with sensitive situations, to show
strong character, and to engage with the
complicated issues that we face in the
world today. This three day intensive
workshop will help faculty to think about
extending the horizons of their students
and their learning experiences. Registration
began the week of February 8th.
Annual Summer Institute on Teaching and Learning
“Teaching the Tough Stuff”
May 11-13 2010
spring 2010 | page 7
The Coulter Faculty Center is supporting
and promoting Communities of Scholarship
on WCU’s campus. “One of our themes
for the year centers around the idea of
productive SoTL,” says Barbara Jo White,
the CFC SoTL Faculty Fellow, “and it’s the
notion that we can simultaneously improve
our teaching, our research productivity, and
our students’ learning with teaching and
learning scholarship.” To that end, the CFC is
focusing on naturally-occurring communities,
that can form in the same college or center
around the same issue. An example of an
issue-based community of scholarship is the
QEP group already working on pilot projects.
Pulling together their work in a journal
publication helps them with their committee
report work as well as their research
productivity. White is currently working with
several faculty in the College of Business
to form a Community of Scholarship.
“Besides similar research interests, we’re
finding it’s often easier to meet,” says
White, “especially informally, when we can
pop into another faculty-member’s office
for advice or a quick question.” College of
Business dean Ron Johnson supports the
community of scholarship that is forming.
He feels that for any institution of education
and higher learning, it’s critical that all
constituencies understand and are aligned
with the mission--it’s necessary, but not
sufficient, says Johnson, “The effectiveness
of the organization is measured by the
results that come from cross-disciplinary
and cross-functional dialog. This is what a
community of scholarship is all about--these
communities add to the resilience of the
university and strengthen the impact of the
university’s efforts.”
Other communities of scholarship have
organically grown from awards committees
or in other colleges, such as the College of
Arts and Sciences, to support each other’s
research objectives and productivity. If
you are involved in or would like to start a
community of scholarship, please contact
Barbara Jo White, the Coulter Faculty
Center’s SoTL Faculty Fellow at 227.7193 or
whiteb@email.wcu.edu.
Supporting Communities of Scholarship
Thanks to a generous gift from Dr. John LeBaron and the J.M. Robinson Endowment
Fund, the Coulter Faculty Center is pleased to offer a quiet, more private space for faculty
to record audio and video podcasts. Located just inside Hunter 172, the Coulter Faculty
Center’s Consultation Room is a small meeting/recording space equipped with a Mac Mini
and a 23’ LCD display. Apple’s iWork ‘09 and Microsoft Office 2008 are available along
with Telestream’s Screenflow software. Screenflow has been gaining popularity recently
with WCU faculty, as it allows the user to create great looking screencasts quickly and
easily. Not only can you record the desktop and mouse movements as they happen, an
external camera and microphone can be attached allowing the user to record high-quality
video and audio of themselves. Many faculty have been using Screenflow in the more
private setting to record narrated Powerpoint lectures. Screenflow provides powerful editing
tools to give your podcast a very professional look. Microphones and other accessories are
available for use with reservation of the Consultation Room.
Go to http://sandbox.wcu.edu/?page_id=2385 to reserve a time.
CFC Consultation Room Gets an Upgrade
By Jason Melvin, Faculty Sandbox Manager
Coulter Faculty Center
182 Hunter
Cullowhee, NC 28723
828-227-7196 | facctr.wcu.edu
NON-PROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE
PAID
CULLOWHEE NC
PERMIT NO 1
The Coulter Faculty Center Staff
Western Carolina University is a University of North Carolina campus and an Equal Opportunity Institution. This public document was created for electronic distribution Creative Servicess: March 2010 | 10-133